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Amsterdam brewery industry is slowly regaining the diversity that was once its defining feature

Amsterdam brewery industry is slowly regaining the diversity that was once its defining feature (Posted by ali0000027, Community Contributor)

Posted by ali0000027, Community Contributor

Like the phoenix from the ashes, the Amsterdam brewery industry is slowly regaining the diversity that was once its defining feature - But it's a long road.

Brewing has a long history in The Netherlands. Once upon a time, starting around the middle ages, there was an incredible plurality of breweries in The Netherlands. Specialising in more traditional beers than the now ubiquitous pilsner, these were often small family affairs that lasted for generations. In the Middle Ages beer was safer to drink than water, and it was consumed by Amsterdammers in vast quantities.

One of the central canals in the city is actually named after the breweries that once lined its waters - the Brouwersgracht in Amsterdam central west. Some Amsterdam Brewery Tour guides like to lead their groups down the canal and point out where notable breweries once stood. They were there a long time - It is still the home of the Stork, an Amsterdam distillery of schnapps and liqeuers.

What your average Amsterdam brewery tour won't tell you is the tale of the annihilation of plurality in the market during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This decline in variety had many causes, including changing methods of transport and preservation of goods that put them in competition with foreign breweries. But the biggest threat didn't come from without - it came from within.

The Heineken Brewery was founded in 1864. The brewery the Heinekens purchased to begin their company was already popular in the Netherlands, and when Bavarian beer imports dried up during the Franco-Prussian War, Heineken's sales skyrocketed. Heineken's career over the next 100 years was one of continuous expansion, barring the decline experienced by all Dutch businesses during the Second World War.

However its methods have been rapacious, and it could be reasonably be accused of monopolistic designs. By 1989 Amsterdam was the largest brewing company in the world. Today Heineken controls around 50% of the beer market in The Netherlands - a frighteningly large share, even without their prosecution for participating in a price fixing cartel with Bavaria and Grolsch, its two leading "competitors", in 2007.

However since the 1970s a change has been creeping into the market that has begun to bear fruit. It became common for members of the counter culture movement in The Netherlands to boycott Heineken, and at the same time the increasing popularity of holidays in Belgium exposed a new generation of drinkers to the variety of the Belgian beer market. They brought these tastes home with them, and created a market for small competitors to Amsterdam. Today it is the breweries that emerged during those years that are among the most exciting.

Stressing diversity, breweries like De Prael and Brouwerij t'IJ are producing amazing beer that is carving out a niche in the Dutch market. Some older breweries are also experiencing a resurgence of popularity. The Bekeerde Suster is a fairly ancient (found in the late medieval period) brewery on Nieuwemarkt that originally made its name serving the city's militia companies. Today the Bekeerde Suster still does business in its own digs, and seems to be keeping up with the younger breweries handily.